Political Quotes

“Madam President, last Friday, China announced its decision to implement a national cap-and-trade program beginning in 2017. It will cover the majority of China's greenhouse gas emissions, including those from power generation, iron and steel production, cement, chemicals, and manufacturing. In creating the world's largest market-based program that puts a price on carbon pollution, China is showing that it knows that climate change and economic growth can be addressed at the same time. China stepped up on climate finance as well, matching the United States' contribution to the Green Climate Fund. China's announcement directly counters the arguments made by opponents of climate action here at home. The original idea was that essentially we should wait for China, that our actions would not make a difference without China, or worse, that we would be harming our own economic growth while they kept burning fossil fuels. That argument, originally--that idea that on the challenge of our generation we should wait for other countries--was ridiculous on its face. After all, the United States must always lead. We are the indispensable Nation regardless of what the other countries may or may not be doing. But even if you subscribe to that argument, everything changed last week. The world is taking action around us. We are now at risk of being left behind, both in terms of our energy systems and our international standing.…”